Whitland 6
Narberth 30

Narberth made the short journey up the road to Whitland for this Division One (West) local derby and confirmed their status as the number one team in the county with a convincing win that saw them also collect a bonus point for scoring four tries.

The Otters grabbed the only try of the first half as they trailed 6-5 but after the interval showed their ability to take chances as they added another three tries and prevented the Borderers from crossing their line at all.

One reason for the Otters’ success was their bustling back row in which number eight Jamie Bohata and Andrew Dennis vied for the man of the match, while Gareth Bateman also worked tirelessly. This dynamic trio was always involved in securing quality ball for halves Adrian Killa and Aled Davies to use and joined Alex Jenkins, Chris James, Ryan Perrott, Justin Hughes and Dan Smith as a platform for gaining quality possession.

The Borderers missed hooker Marc Jones, sadly off to pastures new at Carmarthen Quins, while skipper Randall Williams had to play alongside Carwyn Davies in the second row and so was unable to play as influential a role as normal, while Gareth Davies and Carwyn Jones had a quiet afternoon at half back for the Borderers and they rarely looked likely to score tries.

Yet it was Whitland who opened the scoring after seven minutes when Narberth illegally blocked a ruck and Carwyn Jones slotted the ensuing penalty. The Borderers were then forced to endure a sustained period of pressure where Narberth went close on several occasions but sound cover from Aled Jones and Lee Glanville helped keep the Otters out.

Gareth Morris had a half chance as the Whitland winger was put away on the right flank and Carwyn Jones missed with a drop goal attempt as he was put under pressure by Dennis and co. Randall Williams, Carwyn Davies, John Bowen and Alan Proctor all made charges towards the Narberth line in a sustained period of pressure but Whitland were unable to turn that pressure into points.

Narberth missed a golden chance to level matters as an Aled Davies’ penalty hit the left post but the Otters went into the lead as powerful runs by Bateman and Dennis, plus quick hands from the support players, allowed winger Nick Jones to round off the move with an unconverted try in the corner.

Live-wire flanker Jack Mason featured against his former Narberth colleagues with some good work to put Whitland back on the attack. A second Carwyn Jones’ penalty gave the Borderers a single point ahead at the break, since Aled Davies was miles off target with a penalty at the other end.

Aled Davies was involved again soon after the restart when he kicked a penalty, although he was unable to convert when Narberth full back Matthew Davies joined the line at pace to create the space for winger Tom Bonnell to score a cracking corner try. An Aled Davies dropped goal found the target in a good spell for the Otters and Whitland missed a good chance of initiating a come-back when Carwyn Jones missed a simple penalty chance. Both teams made a number of changes in their line-ups but a Jamie Bohata charge down put Narberth in with a scoring chance which was taken as they followed up to secure possession from which centre Steve Martin was able to score wide out and Aled Davies converted.

It was a killer blow for the Borderers and it was perhaps appropriate that Andrew Dennis should grab the final Narberth score as he burst through from a lineout, because he and Bohata had been key figures in the visitors’ success. Aled Davies clearly enjoyed applying the coup de grace against his old club and Narberth pouched a vital five points, while Whitland had little to show for their efforts in what was always an absorbing clash played in front of a big crowd.